The Lancet: Disease, conflict, and the challenge of elimination in the Americas Editorial Board “…Over the years, and within the confines of Colombia’s borders, the [country’s civil] conflict has touched on many issues that are now at the forefront of global health and development. … [T]he implications of the peace…

The Atlantic: Why Doctors Without Borders Refused a Million Free Vaccines “[Last] week the medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders refused a donation of one million vaccine doses from the pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer. It offered inoculations against a commonly fatal pneumonia — deliverable immediately, to people in need anywhere –…

RESULTS: The Next U.S. President Should Confront the TB Epidemic Head On In response to the WHO’s release of the 2016 Global Tuberculosis Report, “showing that the tuberculosis (TB) epidemic is worse than previously known, … eight leading U.S. organizations released the following statement: … ‘The next U.S. president must…

The Guardian: $10m campaign targets cervical cancer among girls in sub-Saharan Africa “A partnership worth $10m (£8.1m) to increase the uptake and awareness of a vaccine to protect girls from cervical cancer, which has higher death rates in sub-Saharan Africa than any other cancer, was launched on Tuesday. Gavi, the…

Thomson Reuters Foundation: Health workers race to vaccinate 41 million children against polio in Lake Chad: U.N. “Health workers have launched a drive to vaccinate more than 41 million children against polio in West Africa’s Lake Chad as they race to contain an outbreak of the disease in conflict-hit northeast…

Deutsche Welle: What if we fail to eradicate polio? Good question “The global public health initiative to eradicate polio is ‘not a done deal.’ That’s the consensus at the 2016 World Health Summit in Berlin. There is plenty of potential for us to fail. On three counts…” (Abbany, 10/11).

Medium: There is no such thing as “free” vaccines: Why we rejected Pfizer’s donation offer of pneumonia vaccines. Jason Cone, executive director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières in the U.S. “…Free is not always better. Donations [of vaccines] often involve numerous conditions and strings attached, including restrictions on which…

Huffington Post: Beating Cervical Cancer In The Developing World — A Game-Changing Partnership To Create A ‘New Normal’ For Girls Farah Ramzan Golant, CEO of Girl Effect “…Too often, negative social norms about what girls should and shouldn’t do, as well as myths and misconceptions, act as barriers preventing adolescent…

Associated Press: Nearly a week after hurricane hit Haiti, U.N. appeals for aid “…The U.N. humanitarian agency in Geneva made an emergency appeal Monday for nearly $120 million in aid, saying about 750,000 people in southwest Haiti alone will need ‘life-saving assistance and protection’ in the next three months. U.N.…